“From Warrior to Healer” Interview in The Fil-Am

Archetypes proliferate through our culture.  I speak about it a little bit in a previous blog post.

One definition, as listed in the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, explains it as, “In Jungian psychology, an inherited pattern of thought or symbolic imagery derived from the past collective experience and present in the individual unconscious.”

Ambika Wauters, author of Chakras and Their Archetypes, takes it one step further, and merges Jung’s archetypes with the ancient chakra system.  It’s an amazing book, one I’d highly recommend!  As the author mentions, “We respond to archetypes because they mirror aspects of our own unconscious.”

Some archetypes include (and this is not the entire list):

• The Mother
• The Empress/Emperor
• The Warrior
• The Lover
• The Communicator

As for me, I resonate with the The Warrior and The Healer archetypes.  When I was editrix of the zine, Bamboo Girl (as mentioned in a previous blog), I was definitely starting to get in touch with my Warrior Spirit:  learned how to verbally and physically defend myself (with Filipino Weapon Fighting), how to speak up for myself, learning more about race, gender, and sexuality, and the intersections of them.

Now, I have transformed into The Healer, bringing forth my warrior flame into the present, with a more direct focus, that is more channelled.  More like a controlled flame, rather than the brushfire I used to be!

Last week, I met up with Cristina Pastor, founding editor of the blog, The Fil-Am, which explores Fil-Am (Filipino-American) culture in New York.  We met, and chatted for quite some time, on a park bench in Union Square.  Talking, and enjoying the fauna:  the crazy older couple who needs to yell at each other from across the way, the young folks congregating on neighboring benches, surely plotting world domination, the guy in the clown outfit and rainbow-colored ‘fro who likes to jump from the bench to a piece of fabric on the ground.  You know, New York City.

The following is a condensed, edited format of our interview.  Enjoy!

The resilience of Bamboo Girl: From warrior to healer

 

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